The Cellar Door in Santa Cruz Ushers in the Lunar New Year

This past Sunday, the Cellar Door restaurant at Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz welcomed the “Year of the Dragon” with a bang, thanks to Chef Alexander Ong of San Francisco’s Belenut, who prepared a masterful banquet fit for celebrating.

Indeed, my Santa Cruz cohorts half-joked that it was the first — and most likely only — time they could indulge in stellar Chinese food in their city, which unfortunately lacks some of the cultural and epicurean diversity of its larger neighboring cities to the north.

I was lucky to be invited as a guest at the 134-person dinner, which sold out in only a few days. It was the first guest chef dinner held there. But Proprietor Randall Grahm hopes to make it a monthly event at this quirky tasting room-restaurant that completely reflects his irreverent personality.

Festive red tablecloths covered long tables that were arranged in a serpentine in the front and rear of the space. The dinner was made up of (lucky) eight courses and served family-style.

Ong brought four of his crew down to prepare the gala dinner, which was filled with symbolic dishes, including a whole fish to represent “abundance.”

The centerpiece was his signature beggar’s chicken — a whole chicken stuffed with mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and smoked pork belly, then wrapped snuggly in gray clay before being baked for hours in Cellar Door’s pizza oven. Ong joked that he had to transport so much clay for the dish that his car turned into a veritable low-rider because of the added weight.

If all that leaves you hungry for more, mark your calendar for Feb. 26, when the guest chef at Cellar Door will be David Taylor of A16 in San Francisco. His “Wild Things” menu will be $80 per person, which includes paired wines. For reservations, call (831) 425-6771.

Thanks so much for posting about this dinner. It was a treat to finally meet you and find out who “Meat Boy” was—hee hee, my guess was way off. Chin-shu was kind enough to introduce me to Pim, who I had read for years. And you introduced me to Andrea Nguyen, who is one of my other favorite bloggers for Asian recipes. What a night! The food was wonderful. I especially loved the beggar’s chicken–the stuffing was to die for and I thought I didn’t like brussel sprouts. We lucked out, as a foursone seated next to us didn’t show. Bill and I about ate a whole snapper and chicken by ourselves (well, I did anyway). Only fair, since our table was told that the meat ball course had problems or something and we were instead served the vegetarian substitute of cauliflower. Definitely not the same, if you’re a carnivore. I did manage to eat two shares of dessert and then felt like rolling out the door. I can’t believe I actually sat and ate for four hours! Wish we were going to be in town for next month’s Wild Things. 🙁

Suzy: So nice to meet you in person after all this time, too! Glad you had such a wonderful time. But then, with that food, those wines, and such wonderful company, it’d be hard not to. My hubby is still chuckling over whom you thought he might be. 😉 Glad he could surprise you. LOL